BAHAWALNAGAR: A local court has directed the district police officer (DPO) to register a criminal case against all SHOs of the Minchinabad Circle for deliberate disobedience of court orders.

A letter from Judicial Magistrate (Section 30) Muhammad Qasim Rasool to DPO on July 27, a copy available with Dawn, stated that in response to the court’s cause list, all police stations in the Minchinabad subdivision, including Minchinabad, McLeod Ganj, Mandi Sadiq Ganj, and Ghumandpur, remained unresponsive. It said that not only did the SHOs concerned failed to appear before the court when directed to do so via wireless communication, they did not bother to participate in any court proceedings.

The letter described this move as one that calls into question the DPO office’s administrative control. It noted that no response to the court process also amounted to a criminal violation. Hence, the DPO should commence procedures under Section 409 and file FIRs against all the delinquent SHOs in accordance with court instructions.

The court and police sources informed Dawn that over the last few months, it had been normal for the circle police to violate the court cause list mostly in high-profile cases. They claimed that the extent to which the circle police ignored the court’s cause list was evident in the fact that, despite multiple court directives, they failed to produce a minor rape victim before the court to record her statement under Section 164.

Moreover on July 27, during the hearing of the aforementioned case before Judge Qasim Rasool, no Minchinabad police official, including the SHO or the investigating officer, appeared despite the judge’s repeated directives. Consequently, the judge issued directions for the DPO. However, there was no response from the DPO Office when this scribe contacted it to get its version.

Published in Dawn, July 29th, 2026